


First comes marriage, then comes love

by Galrafloofandlove



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Culture, Arranged Marriage, Described injury and coma, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Happy Ending, Love Confessions, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Season/Series 08 Finale, aro keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-09-23 02:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20332804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galrafloofandlove/pseuds/Galrafloofandlove
Summary: Lance didn't know how he convinced himself to sign up for a political marriage to bond humans, Alteans, and Galras together, but at least his arranged husband was cute.He's paired with Regris, a Blade member who recently came out of a coma due to an explosion that took his right arm and leg.And Lance, as stupid as it sounds, starts to fall deep in love for his fake husband, having insane daydreams he knows will never come to fruition unless he's living in a dream world.(After credits au where all Blade members survived)





	First comes marriage, then comes love

**Author's Note:**

> [My artist's work!](https://twitter.com/sinmiint/status/1164172935981981697)
> 
> [My beta's Tumblr!](http://bry-needs-a-nap.tumblr.com)
> 
> If i missed any tags, please let me know! My wrist is currently sprained so I'm probably going to forget a few trying to tag fast.

Keith's nails tapped along the table, fingers landed down in a wave and came back up like fans at a football stadium doing a human wave. 

"This is pretty good." Keith broke the speaking silence, pointing to the spaghetti that he'd only had a bite or two of. Lance had made it special when Keith said he wanted to have dinner to catch up, but it was obvious he had something completely different on his mind. 

"Yeah. It's all homemade. Even the dough for the pasta. My mama gave me the recipe." Lance explained, trying to hide the confusion of why Keith even wanted to have dinner when he only poked at his food and cleared his throat.  
"It's good." Keith said again, nodding as he took the parmesan cheese and added more to the top of his pasta. "So, things have been going well with New Altea since you last visited...the Blade has been finishing intergrading the remaining planets into the coalition. Things are going smoothly." Keith reported, putting his elbows on the table and interlocking his fingers. He almost looked villainous, the scar on his cheek sticking out against pale skin and his tank top under his jacket slide off just enough to see the beginning of the large shoulder scar he had gotten from the blade trials. None of them even tried to hide their scars anymore- years of battle had changed them, and the physical aspects of such were displayed by the few of them to give strength to others that were fearful and ashamed of their scars. They were all a beacon of hope, even years after the war had finished.  
Keith cleared his throat before continuing. "But regular Altean and human citizens are still...afraid of the Galra. Rightfully so, after years of imprisonment they have trouble trusting anyone of the species. But…. you're human and Altean. The mark of the chosen on your cheeks reminds the Alteans of hope and unity in the human race, and the fact that you're human also strikes a love for the Alteans in the most human's heart. So, if you would...uh…" Keith's cheeks grew rosy, embarrassed by what he was about to ask of his long-time friend.  
"I would, of course, just marry an Altean myself as a political marriage, if not for…." Keith trailed off, swallowing as he did.  
"Dude, I get it. You're aro. You can stop dancing around it. All the paladins are cool with it." Lance said with a quick smile, interrupting Keith for the first time in his little speech.  
"Right. Yeah. Thank you. I always kinda forget I told you guys years ago." Keith nodded slowly before taking a quick sip of iced lemonade that Lance had also made fresh. Lance followed soon after as Keith continued.  
"Anyway, uh… there's a blade member. Regris. He just came out of a coma. And he's really nice and sweet and everything and…" Keith gulped. "We were wondering if you'd be okay with...marrying him." 

Lance spit out his lemonade in shock. 

~~~~~~

He really should have seen it coming, from how Keith worded the previous sentences in the conversation. How he'd just marry an Altean himself to cement the bond, introducing Regris as "nice and sweet and everything" and Lance had just been too naive to see it. His way of life changed after the war, and while he still helped with various Garrison tasks when he was called in, he mostly stayed on the small farm. There wasn't enough crops to actually make much of a profit, so he usually just used what he grew to cook and as gifts to Pidge's mom. He got a monthly pay from the Garrison for continuing to check over star trails for exploration and giving input on different planets the Paladins had visited before humans arrived on their surface. 

Lance knew they needed a strong bond between the Humans, Alteans, and Galrans, considering all the previous violence between the races. They needed to trust one another, to build a healthy alliance that will last through the ages.

He'd just never actually imagined that a political marriage would be it, or that he'd be one of the participants in such a wedding. 

He can't believe he'd actually agreed to marry a stranger.  
He'd agreed to marry a stranger in front of a Blade commander, maybe because of his impulsive nature or the fact that he might have sweetened the lemonade with a little too much sugar and he'd already had five and a half glasses. 

But now he was in a ship to a Blade base where his future husband was waiting. 

The ship's captain didn't say much as they landed into the hangar, he just simply grunted and montioned for where Lance was to exit. 

Kolivan met him once he was off the ship and onto the base. 

"Please keep it in the back of your mind that in our culture, Regris is just reaching adolescents." Kolivan informed as he ushered Lance down plain wide hallways. Lance assumed they were so big to accommodate the size of some of the Galra, or room for the ones who have tails to be able to move it side to side without hitting it against the wall.  
"However, in your Earth years, he is around fifty two years of age. Comparing Galran development to human development, that would make Regris around 20, taking everything into account. Commander Kogane-" Kolivan continued to ramble on until Lance let out an audible chuckle in response to somebody actually using Keith's fancy new name and title.  
"Just call him Keith." Lance replied when Kolivan didn't continue and just looked at Lance confused.  
"Calling him Keith reminds me of his junior blade days. We quickly started referring to him as either little Blade or Red. The name Keith was difficult to pronounce by many of our members." Kolivan's face seemed to alter a bit, and in all honestly that was the first time he'd seen anything but his eyes move. His lips seemed to curve up into what had to be a smile- holy shit, Kolivan was smiling. 

Kolivan cleared his throat out, however, as they reached a door Kolivan pretended to be very interested in before scanning his hand over to the side of the door, causing it to slide open. 

In the middle of the room was a tall, slim Galra that must have been just under eight feet tall. He wasn't even standing over Lance and he already felt his shadow looming over him. Lance noticed that he wasn't in the traditional blade suit, instead dressed in what appeared to be a white T-shirt and comfy shorts. The shorts had a small hole in the bottom area, and a fuzzy tail that reached down to his legs when it was lying down straight.  
He had two prosthetics, one on his right arm that started just above the elbow, and the other was on his right leg that began a little above the knee. The prosthetics weren't like Shiro's- they looked a lot different, like they were designed for regular life functions instead of fighting. There were small translucent parts on each of the false limbs, and when the Galra moved his prosthetic worked just like a normal leg- it didn't seem heavy, and his coordination with the false leg was amazing.  
His face fanned out a bit, purple fur dotting every little bit of his appearance. His clothes seemed to be baggy, but it was really just that his fur was standing up and making the fabric puff out to accommodate the small strands of violet fur. 

Lance wondered if he shedded. 

Another Galra, this one in full Blade suit including mask was standing on the other side of the room, and Lance registered that this was sort of like a hospital room. There was a bed in the corner, a bunch of small, mostly circular flowers planted in green soil and various stuffed animals were piled at the end of the bed. There were a few dormant machines in another corner, likely used when Regris was worse off. 

"Antok-" Regris started to argue with the masked Blade, not realizing that his future husband and the Blade leader had silently entered the room.  
"Bed. Now." The masked Blade- Antok- said simply.  
Regris made a pouting face and turned to go into the bed in the corner, but he saw Lance and Kolivan in the doorframe and froze. 

And in another minute he bounced into action and was by Lance's side in the blink of an eye.  
“Why is your patch of fur so tiny? Do you have a disease?” Regris asked, moving a few clawed fingers to gently run them through Lance's brunette locks.  
Lance flinched at first, before he realized the claws retracted in less than a second. Only the blunt end of the Galra's fingers grazed over his scalp, petting him like a fuzzy newborn kitten.  
“Regris, you can't be like this.” Kolivan scolded with his arms crossed by the doorway.  
Regris started to jump up and down even with his prosthetic.  
Yeah, definitely not that heavy.  
Kolivan wasn't phased, whispering to Lance quietly that Regris just needed to get his energy out. He was moving into adolescence soon, and he also had been cooped up in bed forever not seeing anybody knew for a long while. When he was fully into the adolescent stage in only a few days, then the rabid jumping and endless energy will slow. 

While Regris was jumping, his fuzzy tail was swinging faster than a motor. Lance was certain if he stuck something in between its path it would be cut into a million pieces. 

"Go to bed, Regris. We'll discuss the matters with your new husband tomorrow." Kolivan said with a sharp voice, grabbing Lance by the shoulders and controlling his movements out of the door and firmly had it shut. 

Lance was loaned a room in the base that night, left more confused and with more questions that he had when the idea to marry a stranger had first been presented to him. 

~~~~~~~

They met again the next morning, or whatever was deemed as morning by the sleep schedule of the base.  
This time, while they still met in the odd hospital room, Regris was sitting criss cross on the bed and he looked much more tired than yesterday. Not one quip left his mouth as the formal introductions were done between future husband and husband. Antok also wasn't there this time, instead what must have been a medical specialist by how he was wearing a light purple lab coat worked over by the machines, back turned to the rest of the group.  
Regris also had an IV drip this time, tubing attaching all the way from the top of the bedframe to his non-prosthetic hand.  
Regris said in a calm, cool voice that he used to be a field soldier until his right side was pretty much blown up in an explosion.  
The medical specialist commented with his back still turned that Keith had been on that mission, and it was one of many times he could have died and needed to spend a few days in the main medical wing for severe burns and sprained ankle. 

From the use of "main" attached in front of "medical wing", Lance assumed that this room wasn't meant to be used for medical purposes- Regris just needed to be housed somewhere while he was in a coma, and now that he was recovering they didn't see a reason to move him back to the main area. 

The medical specialist turned around with a roll of bandages in his hand, and that's when Lance recognized him. The first Blade member the paladins had ever met, Ulaz. 

Regris whined when he saw Ulaz start to approach. 

"If you hadn't tried to escape last night, you wouldn't need this." Kolivan said as Ulaz firmly grabbed Regris's tail- which Lance hadn't realized had been limp against the sheets- and wrapped it in bandages.  
"I wasn't escaping! I wanted water." Regris said, loudest he'd been the entire conversation.  
Lance raised an eyebrow.  
"He sprained his tail last night when he got out of bed. His limbs are still stiff from the coma, even more so when he first awakes. He stepped on his tail with the new prosthetic and ended up hurting the bone." Kolivan explained. Lance supposed it made sense that there were bones in the tail, considering how Regris was able to wag it, but for some reason, hearing the words shocked Lance for a solid minute.

Regris bit the inside of his cheek, no longer defending him and Kolivan continued on with telling Lance the wedding plans, incorporating human, Altean, and Galran wedding traditions. Lance was only half listening, more so paying attention to how this just seemed like second nature to Regris. Marrying somebody he barely knew didn't seem to phase him. Lance supposed it must be common in most Galran cultures and customs, and that Regris was always expecting to be a part of a political or an arranged marriage. 

Later, a Galra tailor that arrived on Base measured Lance and promised to have the traditional human suit done in both Regris' and Lance's sizes done by the date of the wedding. Lance idly wondered how much fabric would actually be needed to make Regris' suit, considering that he was eight feet tall and some inches.  
In Earth days, it was a Tuesday and the wedding was scheduled to take place at a large chapel in New Altea on Friday morning.  
Otherwise, everything for the wedding was completely set up. Lance didn't have to do much but be in attendance at the ceremony and do whatever crazy traditions they wanted him to do. He heard something about juniberry pollen when Kolivan was explaining everything to him, but other than that Lance was practically clueless as to what was planned to take place on Friday morning. 

On Friday morning, he was getting married.  
For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, in rich and poor…

Lance laid it bed that night debating if he had made the right decision to marry a stranger for the better of the universe. It sounded selfish when he put it that way, but he got more worried the more he thought about marrying Regris.  
At least Regris was cute and pretty nice, and despite the coma the Blade training he did must have bulked him up because Lance saw the outline of strong abs through his shirt earlier-  
Lance shook his head. No daydreaming about his arranged future husband. He just needed to sleep was all. He'd be better in the morning. 

~~~~~~~

He was not better in the morning. 

He even took a cold shower, splashed water in his face countless times, and yet he was still having those thoughts. 

Of what it would feel like to lay down on Regris' chest, listening to his heart beat slowly as he drifts off to sleep and begins to dream, what it would feel like to run his fingers through his fur while the sun rises and light floods into their bedroom, watching their little Galran babies run into their bedroom screaming for their papas- 

Okay, maybe the last part was too much. He'd probably never end up adopting children with Regris. He'd probably never have the chance to actually fall in love with Regris. It was a marriage, an arranged one, it was just a tactic to get people to trust in a bond, and no matter how much Lance can already imagine those little faces as his oldest, a daughter, climbs into their bed at nine am and insists for pancakes for breakfast- 

And there it is again. 

Lance spent at least another hour under the cold spray of the shower so he could get his thoughts straight. No babies, no love, just a marriage. 

What a weird sentence that is. 

The rest of the days leading up to the wedding were spent either talking to Regris or lying in bed and trying to convince his wandering brain to stop daydreaming.  
The talks with Regris were basic. Lance sat on one end of the bed, Regris the other end, and neither of them ever touched hands or anything. The only daydream material Lance was given from the talks was that on Thursday Regris had physical therapy and when Lance arrived he had sweat through his white T-shirt and therefore the outlines of his pecs were impossible to miss.  
It was the only daydream material he got, but Lance had to admit it was a lot of material. He could even detect the outline of a few scars. 

During their talks Regris had mentioned some of his field work, how they had told him he wouldn't be able to work in the field after he woke up from his coma. Regris said that they already have many members that can only be stationed on bases and not available for field work due to Illnesses and injuries they gained from the field, and the bases were starting to get overcrowded. So instead, he was chosen as a spouse for an arranged marriage to secure a bond with other species and Galra. It apparently was a common thing with injured Galra unable to fight on the field to be set into an arranged marriage, due to how many relationships the Empire had to fix from Zarkon's destruction. Regris was given a special future spouse because he had been on the field since he was twenty three, or nearly fourteen in human developmental years, and the special spouse had turned out to be Lance. 

Regris had much better stories than Lance did. Lance just mentioned stuff about his family and a few of the more risky paladin missions from a while back. Either way, Regris listened intently. 

When the day of the wedding came, a large ship arrived at the base to ship Regris, Lance, and other Blade members who'd be attending the ceremony to New Altean. 

Following a human tradition, they weren't allowed to see each other before the ceremony and were ushered into separate dressing rooms, where a tailor helped Lance into his custom made suit. The only noticeable difference from the standard black and white suit on Earth was that a small juniberry patch and a patch with an image of Earth on it etched into the left side of his jacket. 

The tailor also gave him a small, round object- it looked like a pill.  
Kolivan came in a second later saying they were ready for Lance to walk down the aisle, and that the round object was in fact a pill. As part of Altean custom, Regris had to shower Lance with a handful of juniberry pollen and the pill was simply to avoid an allergic reaction.  
Lance took it quickly and followed Kolivan out to the main chapel. 

The white walls of the chapel glittered as light flowed through the red and green windows, leaders of all planets in attendance, the paladins and his family in the first row on the left and Regris' blade friends on the first row on the right. 

Lance walked down the pink carpeted aisle of the chapel, using the formal method of walking he'd been taught for diplomatic meetings back in his paladin years.  
After what felt like forever, Lance arrived at the altar and stood next to Regris.  
He looked stunning in his suit, despite it only being larger than Lance's and instead of the Altean and Earth patch, Regris had one with the Blade of Marmora insignia on it. He towered above Lance as they stood at the same level, and Lance was positive he smelled some sort of fruit smell coming from Regris- maybe he had used some special conditioner on his fur, actually, because it looked fluffier and shinier than usual. 

The officiant, who appeared to be Altean and was just a little taller than Lance but didn't hold a candle to Regris began to speak in a language Lance barely understood. It seemed Regris couldn't quite understand him, either, because he nervously bit the inside of his cheek at every new word spoken. 

It was an Altean language, Lance knew that. He used to hear some of the words back in the Castle when he used to be a paladin, and he vaguely recognized a few suffixes Coran had taught him but he had forgotten the meaning of. 

Both Regris and Lance stayed silent until the officiant pulled out a jeweled box from the atlar behind him, opening the lid and presenting the contents to Regris and only Regris. Lance didn't want to tilt his head to see what it was in front of so many people and it was angled just so he could see the outside of the box but not the inside. 

Until Regris took a handful of something from the box and showed it to Lance briefly. It almost looked like fuzz but Lance knew it wasn't, some of it being a bright yellow and others being a pastel pink. 

Regris took a single deep breath in, raised his hands over Lance's head (not that it took much) and poured the stuff all over Lance's head before wiping it off. 

Okay, there was the pollen tradition. 

After a bunch of more talk from the officiant that neither Lance or Regris could really understand, the officiant handed each one of them a flimsy golden string in a loop.  
Regris understood immediately and whispered to Lance "bow your head".  
Lance did as he was told, causing a bit of the remaining pollen to shed from his hair and fall to the Chapel floor.  
Regris placed the string around Lance's neck.  
Once he was done, Lance repeated the action on Regris. 

The officiant finally spoke in english after that, proclaiming "the grooms may now kiss to confirm their marriage, as is human tradition." 

Lance's hands were shaking as Regris leaned down. 

Just a kiss, Lance reminded himself as fear spread all over his body. Just a kiss, like this is just a marriage, it's all fake, you're not in love with him- 

But he was. 

Lance eagerly took his opportunity and kissed Regris.  
His lips were calloused, but they almost seemed like that's how they were naturally how it was supposed to be. They were strong as they kissed back, insistent on something. What that something was, Lance was unsure, but he did know one thing.

He couldn't just kiss Regris once. He needed to do it again. It was addicting to feel those lips on his own, feeling the heat from Regris transfer over to him in waves. He felt like he was floating, the sensations racking all over his body from just a simple kiss. 

It was probably too long of a kiss for a wedding, but Lance didn't care. Because it felt amazing, like it was just meant to be. 

They walked down the aisle together and into the sun where citizens flocked to congratulate them before they were on their way to the reception. 

~~~~~~

Lance woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. 

He remembers the wedding, he remembers the kiss, he remembers going to the reception, downing a few classes of nunvil and then his memory gets a little shaky. He thinks he had a dance with Regris, but that might have been another daydream he had while drunk.  
The golden necklace from the wedding is still around his neck. Lance assumes it's sort of like the wedding rings back on Earth, where you're never supposed to take it off. It doesn't bother him and doesn't annoy his skin, so he doesn't take it off. 

There's a knock on the door, and despite the fact that Lance is certain he looks like an actual disaster, he groans and climbs out of bed to answer it anyway. 

Regris is standing there, breathing heavy and holding his golden necklace in one of his large, furry hands. 

"Lance, I need to tell you something." Regris says like he's in a rush.  
"Is the necklace thing too big or something? Not your size? Because that was the wedding planner's thing, not mine-"  
"I'm in love with you." 

Those words catch Lance off guard, and he's sure his expression shows it, but Regris continues anyway. 

"I'm so deeply in love with you and I want to leave space and go live a life on Earth. With you." Regris has the words out of his mouth so quickly.  
Lance is silent for a minute as he processes the words.  
He pinches his arm to make sure he isn't dreaming, to Regris' confusion, and when he doesn't wake up he just stands on his tippy toes waiting for Regris to lean down and kiss him. 

Regris looks about to cry as he does. 

The kiss is just how Lance remembers, albeit Regris' lips are a little bit softer than they were at the wedding, but the kiss was still pure heaven. He almost doesn't want to pull away until he's gasping for air and he's forced to end the kiss of his dreams. 

Regris gives him small puppy dogs eyes. 

"Is that a yes?" He asks, seemingly legitimately unsure. 

Lance just laughs and leans up to kiss him again. 

~~~~~~

"You've never seen a sunrise." Lance said. It wasn't a question, as Regris had already cemented the fact that sunrises didn't really exist in space and moving to Earth to live with his husband is his first chance to see one.  
Regris sighed at the words being repeated for what had to be the seventh time in the passenger's seat of Lance's truck. 

Neither of them had been able to sleep on Regris' first day staying at Lance's house and his first day on Earth, so at 5am they got to taking and Lance casually mentioned that the sun was going to rise soon, to Regris' confusion. 

Now Lance was driving them to a 24 hour diner just near his favorite beach. It was a bit rocky with only a tiny amount of sand on the shore, but Lance loved it. 

When they got to the diner, Lance ordered a stack of strawberry pancakes for them both, Regris again confused by the concept but trusted his husband and kept up conversation until the waitress arrived with their plates. 

Regris wrinkled his nose as his plate was placed right in front of him on the table. 

"It's strawberry sauce." Lance pointed at the deep red, syrupy substance that was dripping off the stack of pancakes on Regris's side of the table.  
"Your fruits...make sauce instead of medicines and juices?" Regris was obviously confused, lips curled up in minor disgust and question.  
"Some of them do that. Plus, I think it's all probably artificial." Lance informed, sticking his fork into the hashbrowns on his own plate. 

Regris looked at Lance, then back down at his plate. 

Regris slowly cut the stack carefully, as if it were a steak at a fancy restaurant.  
He got one piece on his fork, the strawberry sauce dripping off and landing in droplets on the already stained table. 

Regris took one bite, and his eyes lit up immediately. 

It was an unexpected reaction, to Lance at least. Regris scarfed it down quicker than even Lance could. 

Regris didn't speak about his eye-opening experience, only gave a satisfied look at Lance as his husband finished up on his own plate.  
That was truly the first time Lance had ever actually thought of Regris as his husband. 

~~~~~~

Later, Lance quickly pulled Regris out to the beach just in time for the sun to start to rise. 

A "wow" fell hushed through Regris's lips, small and almost too quiet to hear past the crashing of the waves. 

They stayed there, standing in what would have been complete silence if not for the sound of the waves and seagulls above them and Regris's tail slowly wagging and skimming a thin layer of sand underneath him. 

Regris carried a nearly asleep Lance to Lance's farmhouse truck and drove the mile back to the house, tucking Lance in and giving him a kiss on the nose. 

It was sort of beautiful that Lance had fallen in love with the man he was already married to. Sure, he wasn't in love when they were getting married, saw the whole thing as some kind of burden at first, but with the passage of time those feelings emerged, standing strong and hard to ignore. 

Then it was weird that they were doing the dating thing after getting married, but every relationship was different. 

And honestly? 

Lance wouldn't have wanted it any other way. 

~~~~~~

Years later, Lance combed his fingers through Regris' fur on his head as the light started to peer through the open windows of the house. 

It was the same house Regris had moved into on his first day on Earth, the one they returned to after their actual honeymoon. While some extensions had been added on to make way for some new additions, the house and bedroom was still the same they both knew and loved. 

Lance heard the pitter-patter of little feet approaching as their daughter tried to wake them up by surprise. 

"Do I hear Leia?" Regris whispered with his eyes still closed.  
"We should have let her stay with Uncle Keith all night and then she wouldn't have to wake us up at seven am." Lance commented, poking fun at how Regris had insisted she come home on Friday nights so she could be there for lazy Saturday mornings.  
Truly, their daughter waking him up was his favorite part of the day, so of course Regris would insist she was home on Friday nights. 

"Papa." They heard Leia's tiny voice whisper from their doorway.  
"Climb on in, pumpkin." Lance whispered back.  
Leia squealed happily and made her way over to the stepstool by the bed so she could have easy access.  
She wiggled her way in between her papas, laying down and sighing in bliss.  
Leia was half human, half Galra, so she looked human but had her moments. She was only five, so when she got angry the teeth and hissing on her Galra side came out. Other than that, her curly brown locks were quite a nightmare to untangle and braid, but they did it for her anyway. 

Because she was their daughter, their beautiful child that had two parents that absolutely adored each other. 

His family had grown in the most unexpected way, and Lance couldn't have been happier. 

Especially as he hears Leia's melodious little laugh ring throughout their little home.

**Author's Note:**

> [My artist's work!](https://twitter.com/sinmiint/status/1164172935981981697)
> 
> [Tumblr](https://galrafloofandlove.tumblr.com)! || [Twitter](https://twitter.com/GalraFloof)!


End file.
